The police no longer believe anything of the sort. The McCanns have been cleared of any wrongdoing. But at the time, they might not have believed it either. The world “believe” is an expression of an opinion. Good policing sticks to facts, so too good reporting.

This week the McCanns withdrew their defamation action after being advised the paper had a strong defence under Portuguese law. It could argue the story was published in good faith, as senior police officers did at the time believe the McCanns may have been implicated.

So now all their energies can be employed looking for their daughter:

The source said the McCanns want to concentrate instead on their €1.16 million case against Goncalo Amaral, the disgraced former head of the Madeleine investigation.

Says T&Q editor Emidio Fernando:

“I had total faith in the source and was certain the police were looking at the couple. It’s not a victory, because I never saw this as a war. I was, as I am today, totally calm about what I wrote.”

When a child goes missing police always look at the parents. The time to stop gawping at the McCanns has long passed. But still they remain by dint of PR and courtroom rows in the public eye.